JOHNSTOWN — A Caroga Lake man who works for the National Center for Security and Preparedness has been appointed as the new Fulton County undersheriff.
Sheriff Richard Giardino announces this week that the county Board of Supervisors approved his request to appoint Daniel Izzo as the new Fulton County undersheriff, effective Dec. 11.
Izzo replaces former Undersheriff Brian Phillips, who left that position Nov. 10 after 27 years experience in the sheriff’s office to spend more time with his family and grandchildren.
A Fulton County Sheriff’s Department news release indicated Izzo is currently employed full-time by the National Center for Security and Preparedness.
He is a program manager who develops and manages training courses for law enforcement officers statewide at the State Preparedness Training Center in Oriskany, Oneida County. His duties include on-site training for officer safety, active shooter and SWAT team certification.
The release said Izzo has also worked part-time for the sheriff’s office as a tactical training instructor. He was one of three part-time positions Giardino established early in 2016. The other two were an investigative analyst and a forensic evidence instructor.
Izzo was born and raised in Mayfield.
He joined the U.S. Navy upon graduation from high school. He served 28 years in the Navy, mostly as a Navy Seal. He successfully completed more than a dozen operational deployments to Europe, Africa and the Middle East. He was awarded two Bronze Star Medals, one for Valor, and three combat action awards. His last three years in the U.S. Navy he was the operations master chief at Naval Special Warfare Basic Training Command. There, Izzo oversaw the day to day operations, supervising over 200 Seal instructors and 800 Seal candidates.
Giardino said Izzo is a “perfect followup” to the former undersheriff who he credited with working tirelessly for two years to “get the train back on track and in the right direction”
“Dan Izzo is extremely well qualified, if not overqualified to be a leader moving the sheriff’s office forward,” Giardino said. “His duties will include managing the day-to-day operations of all of the divisions of the sheriff’s office. His experience will be used to continue to dramatically increase the training for the Law Enforcement Division and Corrections Division.”
The sheriff went on to say both sheriff’s staff and county residents will be “very well served” by the addition of Izzo as undersheriff.
“His temperament, demeanor and leadership skills are unparalleled,” Giardino said.
Michael Anich covers Johnstown and Fulton County news. He can be reached at [email protected]
